Pickell told the Genesee County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Jan. 16, that
he was sending Gov. Rick Snyder a letter saying the state's strategy for
fighting crime "may be fundamentally flawed."

First Lt. Matt Bolger said statistics show the strategy is working.

"Since the Flint city lockup opened up, we locked up a large
number of people that otherwise wouldn't have been lodged at the county jail,"
said Bolger. "I guess I don't see how that would be a failure."

According to Bolger, there were 679 people locked up in the
jail in December – 341 from Flint Police and 333 from MSP along with five from
Mott Community College and University of Michigan-Flint police.

The MSP increased its presence in the city from 10 to 20
troopers patrolling the city in 2011 and also assigned some to work in the
Flint Police Department's detective bureau. More state troopers are also on the
way as part of Gov. Rick Snyder's public safety initiative for Flint, Detroit,
Saginaw and Pontiac.

Pickell, however, wants the state to fund a mobile violent
crime unit made up of area officers to "relentlessly pursue" violent criminals.

Bolger said troopers arrested 227 people on weapon-related charges
and 452 for drug related charges and seized 111 firearms last year. There were
also 395 felons arrested on 686 criminal counts, he said.

"If the sheriff's position is taking guns and drugs off the
street (and) arresting criminals somehow doesn't improve public safety, I guess
I would be very confused," Bolger said.